This is a group blog written by reporters and editors of The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

November 10, 2008

The greatest apartment in the world

Photo by Wm. Srite

Ann Marie McQueen

Dubai is known for superlatives, so of course this isn't actually the greatest apartment in the world, but from where I am sitting, it comes pretty close. The terrace is large enough to host a dinner party for 12 - with extra room to mingle. The windows are floor to ceiling. The appliances, gorgeous, stainless steel appliances, and a built-in stove, were included. Two bathrooms, and laundry. The view? Well, I assure you the picture above is not an artist's rendering, as it appears. This is how it actually looks, at night. Across the way, you can see right into other, gorgeous apartments - so there is always something to look at. At the base, there is a Noodle House, a Caribou - for coffee and books - a patio, a pool and health club. From this little corner of Dubai, the gorgeous one-bedroom apartment my friend managed to snag, the UAE is not just a masterpiece in the making, but a masterpiece.

To say that I am jealous, seven months and counting in an apartment hotel that looks out through dirty windows onto a row of dumpsters, would be an understatement. But since she pays for it - quite dearly, but not so dearly as those of us crammed into Abu Dhabi's uninspired one and two-beds, not considering what she gets for her money - and she is lovely and deserves it, and I get to visit on my day off, I try to reign it in.